Spa cuisine has a bad rap. With all the emphasis on healthy living, plus the number of spa resorts that double as diet centers, it’s natural to think that spa-goers are fed carrots, lettuce leaves and wheat-grass juice. The world-famous Golden Door spa resort is bucking that trend with fare that aims to appease your appetite… as well as your waistline! LifeScript asked the spa’s chef for his top 10 tips for cooking light, plus three healthy summer recipes…

Alex Schnoop, chef at the Golden Door Spa Café in Carefree, Arizona, knows the bar is pretty low for spa cuisine. “People think it’s bland, boring, tasteless, with portions the size of a quarter,” he says.

But the dishes that Schnopp cooks up are far from humdrum. His tasty recipes include a zesty honey-chipotle chicken wrap, a satisfying sandwich of roasted turkey and cranberry spread on a multi-grain roll, served with a hearty, 100-calorie chicken and rice soup.

“We like to shatter the whole myth of spa food here. It’s not just nuts and berries,” Schnopp says. In keeping with the spa’s healthy living philosophy, the café’s menu changes seasonally to provide the freshest ingredients. “There are usually two soups, three or four salads, a wrap, a pizza and two to three entrées. Plus snacks of crudité and fresh fruit.”

The flavorful yet diet-conscious fare has made Golden Door spa resorts a favorite of Hollywood celebrities, including Oprah, Julia Roberts and Jane Fonda. There are now eight Golden Door resort locations, from the original in Californiato Floridaand Puerto Rico.

“I think in Arizona we get a lot of guests who are just here for treatments; they’re not staying the entire week. It’s a challenge,” Schnopp says. “The food has to really appeal to a person who isn’t necessarily used to spa cuisine. It has to be light and nutritious, but also familiar.”

2. Remove the skin from chicken. If you’re worried about the chicken getting dry, keep the skin on while it cooks, but remove before eating. It will save you more than 100 calories!

3. Marinate your food. By choosing a flavorful marinade, you can make your meats the star of the meal. A simple marinade of olive oil, garlic, lemon, capers, and herbs on almost any meat or fish is a great substitute for a thick sauce.

4. Use light sauces. It’s summer, so leave those heavy butter-and-cream sauces behind. Try a fresh, citrus sauce instead, particularly with fish. You can create a flavorful topping with just four simple ingredients: In a blender add an orange juice reduction, fresh thyme, extra virgin olive oil, and shallots. Combine all ingredients and blend for 30 seconds. Serve with a piece of your favorite fish.

With healthful preparation and fresh, simple ingredients, you can create fabulous, feel-good meals in no time. Here, Schnopp shares three healthy recipes that incorporate his tips for a delicious, spa cuisine.

Breakfast: Israeli Couscous and Fruit with Lemon-Mint Yogurt

Schnopp recommends eating complex carbs in the morning to jump-start your metabolism. “Plus they’ll keep you full longer,” he says. Use organic, nonfat yogurt, which is rich in antioxidants. “You can serve this as a parfait or as a salad with the yogurt as a dressing,” Schnopp says.

Ingredients

For the couscous:

2 cups Israeli couscous, cooked

2 cups fresh fruit (such as papaya, mango, pineapple, kiwi), diced

1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

For the lemon-mint yogurt:

16 ounces plain, nonfat yogurt

1/4 cup honey

1 whole lemon, juiced

Preparation

For the couscous:

1. Mix together the couscous, diced fruit and 1 tablespoon of mint.

2. Chill for at least one hour before serving.

For the lemon-mint yogurt:

1. Warm the honey in a saucepan.

2. Add lemon juice and yogurt to pan. Whisk together.

3. Let cool, then stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon of chopped mint.

Lunch: Chilled Cucumber Soup with Prawns

“This is light and refreshing so it won’t bog you down, but [it’s] also satisfying,” Schnopp says. “There is a movement in cooking towards raw foods. If you cook food less, you retain more nutrients, and the body breaks it down easier. That’s why the shrimp is poached and the vegetables are simply pureed.” (See related article: Raw Food Revolution!)

Ingredients

For the soup:

8 whole English cucumbers, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1/4 cup cold-pressed olive oil

2 teaspoons honey

2 tablespoons fresh mint, loosely packed

3 teaspoons sea salt

For the vegetable mixture:

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 cup red bell pepper, finely diced

1 cup cucumber, seeded, finely diced

1 cup fennel bulb, finely diced

1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon cold-pressed olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

For the shrimp:

12 whole shrimp

1 quart water

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons sea salt

Preparation

For the soup:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and purée until very smooth. Strain and adjust seasoning if necessary.

For the vegetables:

1. Mix all ingredients, adjusting seasoning if necessary.

For the shrimp:

1. Bring water, vinegar and salt to a boil.

2. Place shrimp in a metal or glass container, and pour the hot vinegar-water mixture over the shrimp. Allow shrimp to cook 2 minutes in the poaching liquid, check doneness, and pour off liquid.

3. Place shrimp in refrigerator to cool.

To assemble:

1. Divide vegetables among four large bowls, forming a neat, high pile in the middle of each bowl.

2. Divide the soup evenly among the four bowls, pouring gently around the vegetables.

3. Place three cooled shrimp on top of the vegetables. Garnish with three mint leaves spaced evenly around the bowl.

Dinner: Striped Bass with Ratatouille and Pesto Salad

“This is much lighter than the French version. It’s all veggies, with the fresh basil on top,” Schnopp says. “You can really taste all the layers. You’re getting great omega-3s from the fish. My tip is to buy a smaller fish (no more than a two-pound filet) rather than a larger one, since larger ones contain more mercury.”

1. Sauté all vegetables separately, using a bit of olive oil for each vegetable, and with a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté until just cooked through. Garlic can be added to the onions near end of cooking.

2. As you finish cooking each vegetable, place in separate piles on a cookie sheet to cool.

3. When cool, mix all ingredients together and adjust seasoning if necessary.

For the pesto salad:

1. Pick stems from basil leaves, then stack leaves and roll them up tightly. Cut into strands about 1/8-inch thick.

2. Add remaining ingredients before serving. Toss thoroughly.

The Golden Door Spa was a participant in this year’s California Winemasters event, benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Learn more about the event - and next year's - at CaliforniaWinemasters.org. And find a Golden Door Spa location near you at GoldenDoor.com.

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